Giro and Juno
by Kessie-Louise
Summary: A side story to 'Guided by the Wind'; Giro rescues a human girl named Juno from a deadly Maverick outbreak in Area H. Taking her in, Giro starts to gain affections for her that Model Z easily recognizes from a past life. Years later, Vent ships it, and the shenanigans only get worse from there... [AU, obviously]
1. Busy

This was the day that everyone working at a transport service hated, this was the day that was going to test everyone's wits and stamina. This was the day that everyone in Kirjath Arba decided to send packages to every corner of the city, and they didn't want just any transport service to do it. No, they wanted Giro Express.

The head of the company, Girouette himself, made sure that no worker sat while they planned the transportations.

"Are we ready to head out?" Giro asked one of his first employees, a Reploid named Sho. Sho was a Reploid that didn't have a red marker on his forehead, meaning that he was built illegally. He wasn't a bad looking Reploid, with platinum blond hair and youthful freckles, but if anyone but Giro had found him, Sho would have been dismantled where he stood.

"Yes sir!" Sho confirmed. "Anytime you're ready, we'll move the shipments out and we can start a long… long day…"

Giro gave Sho a comforted smile and was about to give him a kind word, but he was interrupted by the sound of an alarm. Sho could hear the quiet alarm as easily as Giro could, and seemed to be a bit confused by it.

"I need to take this." Giro told the younger Reploid. "Go make sure everyone else is ready to move out."

"Yes… sir." Sho agreed slowly.

"Thank you Sho." Girouette told the Reploid gratefully before heading to the main office.

After getting into the office, Giro made sure no one else was in the room before locking the door. The Reploid then pressed a button on his headset that silenced the alarm and set him on a radio frequency to an airship of a group of vigilante protectors.

"Giro we need your help immediately." The leader of the protectors said from over the headset. "The Guardians have done all that they can, and we've led off most of the Mavericks, but we can't get to the route. The Guardians have evacuated as many people and Reploids as they could, but if the Mavericks aren't stopped, they'll just keep on coming and we'll need your abilities with Biometal Z to completely keep them at bay; possibly even stop that altogether."

"Good morning Prairie." Giro said into the headset quite charmingly. An annoyed scoff on the other end clued Giro in on the leader's thoughts of his relaxed nature.

"Girouette, we need your assistance in Area H!" Prairie breathlessly told him over his headset. Giro frowned. Today was not the best day for the Guardians to need his help with Model Z. The entire staff of Giro Express had been preparing for the excess shipments for weeks, going back on it now was not only going to mess up the employees, it was going to make the costumers upset as well.

"Prairie, you know how busy I am today." Girouette started to say, slightly hesitant. "I'll figure out a way to get over there as soon as possible, but it's going to take a while. We might be looking at another fifteen minutes at the least."

"I know how busy you are." Prairie told him, rather shortly. "But we need backup, and you're all we have."

Giro let out a conflicted sigh as he looked over to Sho, who was preparing the take out the shipment.

"Can you hold out for another ten minutes?" Giro then asked. On the other end, Giro could just barely hear Prairie let out a sound of uncertainty and fear induced annoyance.

"Yes." Prairie agreed. "The Guardians might need to fall back a bit, but we should be able to make it another ten minutes. Thank you Giro."

After the connection was lost, Giro quickly made his way over to Sho, trying to act as if nothing else was wrong.

"Sho, I'll need you to oversee the shipments today." Giro told the illegal Reploid. Sho looked up at Giro with wide eyes.

"Excuse me?" the Reploid asked, almost sounding as if he had misheard Giro.

"I have an emergency to attend to and I'll need you to oversee the shipments today." Giro told him. "I need to go immediately, I have complete trust in you and I'll be back as soon as I can."

"But where are you going that's more important than these deliveries?!" Sho demanded as Giro started to leave.

"I'll be back as soon as I can!" Giro replied from over his shoulder. All Sho could do at that point was stare as Giro disappeared out the door.

. . .

Area H was in a bigger mess than what Giro had been anticipating. The Guardians had held back as many Mavericks that they could, but there was still an incoming stream that made it impossible to reduce them all. At the outskirts of the area, Giro pulled out Biometal Z from his pocket and took his stance to call upon the Biometal's power.

"Model Z, MegaMerge!" Giro commanded.

 _'Biolink established, M.E.G.A. system online!'_

As the Biometal started to wrap itself in Giro's own systems, the Reploid closed his eyes as he allowed the transformation to take place. When it was over, Giro opened his eyes again to see that the Biometal was now an armor, and they headed into the mess of Area H headfirst.

 _'The Guardians did a rather decent job of clearing out the Mavericks. But I can see why they had problems, the Mavericks are acting as if they're being controlled by a stronger force.'_

"What do you think our first line of action should be?" Girouette asked the Biometal.

 _'Where there are crumbs, there's a messy eater that leaves them. Follow the way the Mavericks come in Girouette, you'll find the one is charge of this operation in no time.'_

"Got it." Giro agreed with a nod. Moving forward with Model Z's held and guidance, the two worked through the Mavericks and straight into the heart of the ruined area.


	2. Hostage

_'Giro, I'm picking up something that has a stronger power core than the other Mavericks.'_

"I can feel it." Giro agreed, preparing the zetasaber for battle. "But I think I feel something else too…"

Coming down from a high ledge, a large, purple Pseudoroid landed in front of Giro's path. The impact the Maverick created from coming down made Giro jump back a bit to prevent from behind hit.

"So you're the backup?" the Maverick said, straightening its baboon-like body to get a better look at Giro protected with Model Z. "Those Guardians put up a good fight; I like that. But they sent _you_ to finish us off? That's insulting."

"Do you know how many innocent lives you've put into danger?" Girouette demanded, starting to feel a bit unnerved that the Maverick seemed to be so calm over the situation at hand.

"I stopped counting at fifty." The Pseudoroid claimed maliciously. "It's been much more than that though, I'm afraid to admit."

"You're a monster!" Girouette declared, raising the zetasaber to attack. "Who are you?!"

The Pseudoroid gave a chuckle that did not ease Girouette's thoughts at the least. "You can call me Purprill the Mandroid, if you wish to scream my name as you think of atoning for my 'massacre' and the 'death of hundreds of humans and Reploids'." The Pseudoroid told Girouette coldly. "Before you start lashing though, I wish to direct your attention to a certain little toy I picked up. Do you like it?"

Girouette looked at the Pseudoroid before looking over to where Purprill was motioning to. When Giro saw what it was, his systems nearly froze. There laying on the ground, was a small human girl with long light brown hair that covered her face. Her once rather pretty clothes were torn and blood stained as if she had been cornered by several Mavericks that she couldn't shake off. Purprill had surrounded her with three large bombs, surely able to go off at any moment if the Pseudoroid wanted to.

"You captured a _human_?!" Girouette demanded, absolutely outraged.

"Ah, ah, ah…" Purprill taunted. "One step closer and she'll be blown high into the sky."

 _'Think rationally Giro. Enough innocents have been hurt today, would you like to add another to that list? Likewise, if this Pseudoroid isn't taken down, who's to say that he'll do that same another day?'_

Girouette ground his teeth together as he attempted to think the situation out carefully. Suddenly, the Reploid had an idea and it gave him the will to smile a bit.

"What are you smiling for?" Purprill questioned.

"Me?" Girouette asked innocently. "Oh, I was simply thinking about how you took all day to create such a chaos then choose to spare just one little kid. Surely there was someone else here that you could have held for ransom."

Purprill recoiled a bit from the Reploid's thoughts.

"Why did I choose her? Is that what you're asking?" the Pseudoroid inquired. Girouette nodded patiently.

"She doesn't look to come from a family of high stature." Giro pointed out. "Surely if you were doing this for a monetary reason, you would have chosen someone more pampered?"

The Pseudoroid seemed to smirk a bit as it took a look from the girl then back to Giro.

"What made you want to spare her?" Girouette asked. "If not for the money, assuming for a minute that you wanted more than just the destructions of hundreds, and that you've had another reason; why her?"

"Perhaps…" Purprill slowly started to say, "She reminded me of an iris. A pretty little thing that could do no harm to anything, how pale she looked when she saw the hordes of Mavericks maul her mother to death. Then, when the Mavericks started to come toward her, she ran and ran and ran until she became purple. It was fascinating to see; humans usually get red, but she became purple. Perhaps she couldn't breathe (I didn't care). When I came to her, she gave a face unlike any other I have seen before, then I took her out of her misery in one movement. It was worth it…"

Girouette's eyes grew wide with a thought that perhaps Purprill _didn't_ spare her and was keeping her body around as a trophy. Using the visor provided from Model Z's armor to perform a quick distance scan of the girl, he was interrupted when Purprill started to give a sinister laugh.

"Turns out I don't need her after all." The Pseudoroid declared. Girouette looked at it with little emotion. "Have the girl. It wasn't her that I enjoyed seeing; it was the destruction. Get the girl and leave, but you must do one thing."

"And what's that?" Girouette asked, raising an eyebrow at Purprill's change of thought.

"Tell the Guardians, tell Serpent over at Slither Inc, tell everyone that comes through this area that Area H is now _my_ territory. Tell everyone you see that if they dare come here, I. Will. Kill. Them."

"Understood." Girouette agreed with a small grumble.

"Oh, and one more thing, before we depart."

"What?"

The Pseudoroid did not answer right away, instead the grenades that surrounded the girl started to pulsate in warning of imminent explosion. Realizing what the Pseudoroid was planning, Girouette quickly dashed to cover the girl before the grenades would go off. The grenades detonated just seconds after Girouette was able to get to her, and when the smoke cleared Giro was a bit battered, but the girl was safe. Somewhere in the distance, Girouette could hear Purprill chuckle as the Pseudoroid went to some other part of Area H to hide in. Carefully, Giro placed his hand on her wrist to check if she was still alive.

Barely.

She was just barely still alive.

"We need to get her back to Giro Express." Giro decided, speaking more to himself than to Model Z.

 _'The blast cut more than a little bit of damage to both of us. I might be able to get you back, but will you make it if I let go of you?'_

"I'll be fine Model Z. If we're close enough, Sho will know. He'll find help, I'm sure of it."

 _'If that's your plan, then I agree. Let's hurry, however, that girl may be alive for now but if we wait…'_

"I know." Giro agreed as he started to get up, positioning the girl so it was easier to carry her. "Let's get going."


	3. Survivor

Going along with what they had planned, Giro and Model Z got as close to Giro Express without being seen before the Biometal let go of their combined state to let Giro make the rest of the way alone. Only ever coming out of the Biometal's protective power when so badly damaged precious few times before, the immense pain that shot through Giro's own body was enough to almost let him drop the girl in surprise and agony.

Giro still had more endurance than what most would expect- still carrying the girl, Giro almost made it far enough to ring the service bell of Giro Express before collapsing. Before his systems went offline to spare whatever data that could be spared before a complete shutdown, Giro thought he could hear someone open the door and ask, distantly, if he was okay. The Reploid did not give an answer as his body failed and went into a forced sleep.

When he woke up again, Giro was in his bedroom- which happened to be one of the many apartments placed in the upper levels of the transportation service. Groggy from the unwanted shutdown, Giro looked around as well as he could for any sign of how he ended up in his room. He found that he had been hooked up into a rather large E-tank that sat by the bed like an IV bag held on its accommodating stand. Giro's eyes tracked to the point where the E-tank connected to his body and carefully detached the cable from his synthetic skin with a wince.

"What do you think you're doing?!" a voice from the door demanded. Unaware that someone was with him, Giro looked over to see that someone had called in a nurse from his list of emergency contacts (all of which led straight to the Guardians, due to Giro feeling that trusting someone else in an emergency would not do much good when he was in possession of a Biometal). Giro looked at the nurse and gave her a sleepy little smile.

"Hello Muguet." He greeted. "You're looking as lovely as always."

The nurse only glared at him. She was a plump human woman with thick, curly hair that was the same shade of brown as her eyes. Of all things, she was annoyed. Perfectly, unamusingly, and clearly annoyed.

"I came back alive, didn't I?" Giro then asked her, his voice so sweet that butter would have melted on his tongue. The smile he gave her was no less charming, but it did not please the uptight nurse one bit.

"Barely." Muguet finally said. "Barely alive. _And_ with a human in even worse condition in tow? What on earth happened out there?"

Mentioning the girl that he had saved made Giro sit upright a bit quickly. "Is she alright?" he immediately asked. Muguet raised an eyebrow before shaking it off.

"Well, whatever in the name of light you did, she's in a pretty deep coma right now." She said to him. "Most of her other injuries have been cared for and are healing quite fine overall. But seriously Girouette, what happened out on the field?"

Choosing to ignore her, Giro started to get up from the bed.

"Where do you think you're going?" Muguet demanded as Giro started to walk to door. As he walked past her, Giro gave Muguet a sweet little smile that he knew would mentally freeze her for a few seconds as he walked out the door without being nagged at. He knew he needed rest after all the damage he had taken. And he would, honest, but the compassion Giro had for the humans and Reploids he would rescue was greater than his sense of wellbeing.

. . .

There was no reason for Giro to not believe Muguet when she had said that the girl was in a coma, but it didn't stop the disappointment when she didn't sit up when he came in. For a moment, as Giro walked over to the girl, he feared that she might have expired between the time Muguet last saw her to when the nurse came to tend to him.

"Did you not believe me?" Muguet demanded as she followed him into the room with a grumpy little gait. "I've _earned_ the right to be a nurse practitioner you know!"

Giro wasn't listening, intentionally or not was up for debate, as he walked closer to the bed the girl rested on. You could tell that someone had to quickly makeshift a place for her to lay on, it had been constructed from an old, rusted trundle frame, elevated by five cinder blocks at each corner that must have been laying around somewhere, the mattress that was found had been so dirty that you could see the grime from underneath the white fitted sheet; for a moment, Giro wondered how livid Muguet must have been when she first came into this room before treating the girl's wounds. She wasn't the type that got too stressed over unsanitary conditions, but she would put her foot down if it wasn't safe. And the hastily made cot that someone had placed the little girl on was certainly not safe.

"I'm going to ring that stupid Reploid's neck when I get the chance." Muguet said, sounding as if she was reading Giro's mind. Giro turned to look at her.

"Sho?" he guessed.

"Who else?" Muguet agreed with an eye roll. "Say what you want about him, that Reploid wouldn't know the danger difference between a snake and a worm."

"But he called you in, didn't he?" Giro asked with a small smirk of playfulness. Muguet let out an indignant huff, almost agreeing.

"At any rate," she then said, changing the subject, "I found something interesting about our damsel in distress here."

"What's that?" Giro inquired curiously. Without directly answering him, Muguet moved toward the foot of the cot and uncovered the end of the duvet off the girl. The nurse took care near an area on the girl's ankles and beckoned Giro to come closer, to which he obliged. As Giro got closer to what Muguet was showing him, he could see why she had called him over. Visible from underneath the skin -where the Achille's tendon should have been- a strip of something inhuman could faintly be seen.

"Our little lady is no stranger to Maverick attacks." Muguet explained. "Apparently, she was subject to an attack at a much younger age, somehow effecting the tendons in her foot which prompted an immediate surgery."

"Was it part of that notion procedure thing that the Sage Trinity is attempting to place? The one where humans must have cybernetic implants and Reploids are given lifespans?"

Muguet shook her head. "Even if that were the case, there's an age limit. This girl is barely ten years old now, from the way the implants appears to 'shine' through her skin I'd wager that she was about three when they were placed- two years too young for the Trinity's commandment."

Giro nodded, showing that he was beginning to take it all in.

"Any other questions?" Muguet then asked as she replaced the duvet over the girl's ankles to keep them warm. Giro looked over to the little girl's face and studied her for a moment as she slept with an odd little expression on her face as if she was in pain- or remembering something that caused her pain. Giro then turned back to Muguet before asking her in an almost uncertain tone,

"When do you think she'll wake up?"


End file.
